BLOCK
The Fly
my previous post about teachers "explain to me why!!" still stands but heres some good news for our kindergarden-grade8 students!
TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario kindergarten students may read next year about the reality of having two dads.
The union representing elementary teachers in Ontario's public school system voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a motion to lobby school boards to buy storybooks that include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters, for pupils from kindergarten to Grade 8.
Phyllis Benedict, president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, said she will push the Ontario government and regional school boards to fund gay material, noting that some teachers already use gay storybooks.
"I used a picture book called "My Two Dads". It was about a child and a family that had two fathers. It was beautifully illustrated and done, and it dealt with the issue with sensitivity," Benedict said.
The motion to promote the new schoolbooks was put forward by the union's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members committee. Leona Laird, head of the committee, said the books would help children who may be stigmatized because they come from families with gay or lesbian parents.
"We're not asking for a whole curriculum program," Laird said. "We're asking for some books, when there's some children who don't feel welcome in their classroom, that they can go and say 'Hey, I'm not different'."
The motion does not mean gay books will automatically fill bookshelves in Ontario's classrooms in September since it's up to individual school boards to decide which materials to fund.
The union's motion comes in marked contrast to a recent decision by a school board in the west coast province of British Columbia, which banned three books used to introduce children to families involving same-sex couples. The board argued the books were not appropriate for kindergarten.
http://home-news.excite.ca/news/r/010815/19/news-life-canada-gays-col
do you think it's a good thing that they voted for funding for those books, i can tell you i think its great.
it's not the first Canadian step in the right direction, we have such things like "Queer Tv" and now gay/lesbian books in schools..
TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario kindergarten students may read next year about the reality of having two dads.
The union representing elementary teachers in Ontario's public school system voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a motion to lobby school boards to buy storybooks that include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters, for pupils from kindergarten to Grade 8.
Phyllis Benedict, president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, said she will push the Ontario government and regional school boards to fund gay material, noting that some teachers already use gay storybooks.
"I used a picture book called "My Two Dads". It was about a child and a family that had two fathers. It was beautifully illustrated and done, and it dealt with the issue with sensitivity," Benedict said.
The motion to promote the new schoolbooks was put forward by the union's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members committee. Leona Laird, head of the committee, said the books would help children who may be stigmatized because they come from families with gay or lesbian parents.
"We're not asking for a whole curriculum program," Laird said. "We're asking for some books, when there's some children who don't feel welcome in their classroom, that they can go and say 'Hey, I'm not different'."
The motion does not mean gay books will automatically fill bookshelves in Ontario's classrooms in September since it's up to individual school boards to decide which materials to fund.
The union's motion comes in marked contrast to a recent decision by a school board in the west coast province of British Columbia, which banned three books used to introduce children to families involving same-sex couples. The board argued the books were not appropriate for kindergarten.
http://home-news.excite.ca/news/r/010815/19/news-life-canada-gays-col
do you think it's a good thing that they voted for funding for those books, i can tell you i think its great.
it's not the first Canadian step in the right direction, we have such things like "Queer Tv" and now gay/lesbian books in schools..